A Guide To Intercessory Prayer
by Rev. Richard W. LaFountain
Step Four: Confess Your Sins
"If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:9
John, the beloved disciple, warns us against an attitude of innocence
before a holy God. To say that we have nothing to confess to God is to call
Him a liar, and to practice self-deception before our Maker. David says:
"Behold I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."
(Psalm 51:5) And Isaiah adds to his own unworthiness before a holy God
when he says: "All of our righteousnesses (that is, our best efforts) are
as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) Most of us misread that passage and think
that God means "all of our unrighteousnesses." But it is all our best
effort at right living that are still as filthy rags. Even if we could keep all
the law and stumble in only one small point we would be guilty of all.
Woe Is Me!
Isaiah, a man filled with the Spirit, a prophet of God, a man above
reproach, is a good example of this truth. In Isaiah 6 he first sees the
Lord in all his beauty, high and lifted up, and glorified. The sight was so
awesome that the just and righteous Isaiah fell on His face before God
with an acute awareness of his own sinful nature. He was not
exaggerating. He was not bemoaning the sinfulness of other people. He
saw himself in the light of God’s holiness and cried "Woe is me I am
undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips." (Isaiah 6:1-5)
We are not just to come into God's presence presumptuously, but
humbly (2 Chronicles 7:14) contritely, with a sincere perspective on our
own nature. We need a vision of ourselves, our true fallen nature, our
minds which are unclean, and of which God knows every passing
thought. (Psalm 139:1-5)
Bankruptcy
Until we recognize our own state of bankruptcy before a holy God we
cannot truly lean upon His Righteousness, without which no man will
see the Lord. (Hebrews 12:14) We would instead come into his presence
as the Pharisee, proud, bragging of his kept laws, righteous deeds, his
right to gain the Father's favor. We need to see ourselves as destitute,
and totally depraved, without the righteousness of Christ. We have
nothing of which to boast. We, are as the rich church of Laodicea in
Revelation 3:14-22. We need to see ourselves as God sees us.
"Lukewarm...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked."
A.W. Tozer says:
"We need to admit...the shallowness of our inner experience, the
hollowness of our worship, the worldliness of our lives, our fleshly fallen
nature that lives on, yet unjudged within us, uncrucified and
unrepudiated, and the hyphenated sins of the human spirit, self-
righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration,
self-love, self-indulgence, and a host of other self-sins. They are not
something we do, they are something we are..." – The Pursuit of God
REGARDING INIQUITY IN MY HEART
"If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18
To regard iniquity means to leave it alone, to tolerate it, to know it is
there and do nothing about it. It is to hide it, to cover it by excuses, to
consider it unimportant, to ignore its dangers.
God considers any iniquity to be an abomination. An abomination is a
horrible disgusting thing. There are no "good guy" iniquities, no little
white lies, no insignificant rebellions of the heart! God calls rebellion in
any form "as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry." (1
Samuel 15:23) God considers sin as sin and all equally appalling to His
holiness. Sin in our heart is to the Lord as festering sores, and maggots
in his holy offerings – slimy, crawling, slithering, disgusting, maggots
defiling the whole! (Isaiah 1:6)
Daniel was conscious of the subtle ways in which sin surrounds us and
creeps into our thoughts, actions, and in-actions. In his exemplary
prayer in Daniel 9 he identifies nine faces of sin.
WE HAVE ...
Sinned v 5 Missed the mark, fallen short
Committed iniquity v 5 Deliberate conscious sin
Done wickedly v 5 Life-style habitual sin
Rebelled v 5/9 Said no to God!
Not hearkened v 6 Closed our ears, ignored
Not obeyed voice v 10 Grieved the Holy Spirit
Transgressed law v 11 Legal term, to know law and disobey
Departed from God v 11 Backslidden, wandered away
Made not prayer v 13 Sin of prayerlessness
DEAL WITH SIN !
Jesus emphasized the need to deal with sin each time he spoke of prayer.
In the Lord's prayer he deals heavily with the need to deal severely with
sin. That is, in fact, the primary lesson of the Lord's Prayer. Immediately
after citing it he pointed out the need to forgive as well as ask for
forgiveness. In Matthew 5:23-26 Jesus further deals with sin in prayer
by saying that when we come to God's altar with an offering we must
first do something about broken relationships before we pray and offer
praise!!! An attempt at reconciliation must be made before our prayers
will be heard. I Peter 3:7 includes the marital relationship as being a
hindering factor in prayer.
CONFESSION OF SIN
A man that truly enters into the presence of God cannot but help to see
himself as unclean. Even the Scripture admits that "all of our good deeds
are as filthy rags." So was the feeling of Isaiah before the throne in
Isaiah 6, and of Daniel in chapter 9. The holiness of God cannot tolerate
the presence of sin! We are exhorted to confess our sins to God (I John
1:8-9), and even admit our faults one to another (James 5:16) so as to
pray effectively and fervently and be healed.
WHAT TO DO WITH YOUR SIN
Conviction is seeing sin as exceedingly sinful.
Repentance is "Agreeing with God about my sin," and turning from it.
Confession is exposing it to God & asking Him to forgive and cleanse.
We cannot do penance for our sins, it would do no good. We cannot pay
the penalty of our sins. The penalty or "wage of sin is death." Therefore
God has provided a better way. We lay our sins on Jesus.
Isaiah 53 is a magnificent passage that describes the atonement of Jesus
Christ for sins. Jesus paid it all on the cross. That is why he could say, "It
is finished." Verse five says, "He was wounded for our transgressions, he
was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon
him, and with his stripes we are healed." Verse six goes on, "All we like
sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way; and
the Lord has laid on him the iniquities of us all." Verse twelve goes even
further, "He was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin
of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
There is nothing more for me to do but lay my sins on Jesus. That is why
the thief on the cross could be saved. He could not do penance. He could
not make restitution for what he had done. He could not even prove his
sincerity. He simply laid his sin on Jesus and said, "Have mercy on me."
That is what Jesus came to do. "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away
the sin of the world."
Lay your sins on Jesus - he is your sin-bearer. Then rejoice in what God
says he has done with your sins. Confession is not commiserating or
grieving over your fallen nature, your secret thoughts, or your sins of
commission or omission, but asking and receiving forgiveness and the
covering of the blood of Jesus. Do not leave the altar of confession
without appropriating the provisions of the cross!. Be forgiven and give
thanks.
Helpful Hints
Don't leave this step without thanking and praising God for what he has
done with your sin. He has cleansed you! Rejoice in that cleansing. Claim
it before the throne! Take these promises and write them in the fly leaf
of your Bible so as to never forget them, and never be without them.
WHAT GOD DID WITH YOUR SINS!
Paid in full - Romans 5:11 / Isaiah 53:6
Forgiven/pardoned – 1 John 1:9
Laid on him – Isaiah 53:6
Washed whiter than snow – Isaiah 1:18
Covered – Psalm 32:1
Cleansed by blood of Jesus – Hebrews 9:22/ 10:4
Blotted out – Isaiah 44:22
Removed as far as east from west – Psalm 103:12
Cast in depths of sea – Micah 7:19
Forgotten forever – Jeremiah 31:34
Read Psalm 51 and Psalm 139 as part of your confession of sin.
Sing a Song:
It is Well
My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Practical Disciplines Workbook
CONFESSION CHECKLIST
(Check up on your own secret sins)
1. Selfish desires ____ James 4:3
2. Secret sins ____ Psalm 66:18
3. Idle words ____ Matthew 12:36
4. Lustful fantasies ____ Matthew 5:28
5. Marriage conflicts ____ I Peter 3:7b
6. Ingratitude ____ Philippians 4:4-8
7. Unforgiving Attitudes ____ Mark 11:25-26
8. Unresolved conflicts ____ Matthew 5:23
9. Doubt ____ Hebrews 11:6a
10. Prayerlessness ____ Hebrews 11:6b / Jeremiah 2:32
11. Indecision & doubt ____ James 1:6
12. Bitterness ____ Hebrews 12:15
13. Rebellion of heart ____ I Samuel 15:23
14. Known disobedience ____ James 4:17
15. Temper ____ Ephesians 4:26-27
16. Anger ____ Ephesians 4:26, 31
17. Impatience with others ____ Ephesians 4:32
18. Murmuring/complaining ____ 1 Corinthians 10:10
19. Lying/saying half-truths ____ Colossians 3:9
20. Strife in your heart ____ James 3:14
There are sins that "easily beset us" that serve only to weigh us down
and cause us shame and hinder our fellowship with God. (Hebrews 12:1)
Each of us has our own set of reoccurring sins. Confession is laying it out
before the Lord... for "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of
him with whom we have to do." (Hebrews 4:13)
MY BESETTING SINS
(Lord, these are areas I need cleansing and forgiveness!)
1. _______________________________
2. _______________________________
3. _______________________________
4. _______________________________
5. _______________________________
6. _______________________________
7. _______________________________
8. _______________________________
9. _______________________________
10. _______________________________
When you have finished with your list and have prayed for forgiveness
take this list and burn it! It is gone!
